Author
Topic: How to write off summer camp (Read 2219 times)

It seems that nearly every week I hear of a different specialty camp to which parents are sending their kids this summer: tennis camp, horseback-riding camp, fashion-design camp as well as week-long camps at the local museum or science centre.

But whether you can claim some tax relief for camp fees -- and how much you can get -- may depend on the type of camp it is.

Tax relief, if applicable, can come in one of two forms: the long-standing child-care deduction or the relatively new children's fitness tax credit.

Child-care deduction While childcare expenses do not include fees paid for sports activities, such as tennis lessons, the Canada Revenue Agency does acknowledge that many summer sports camp programs include elements of education and training as well as child care.

In fact, the CRA has specifically stated that since many summer sports camps for young children include a sufficient degree of child care, despite the program being enriched by instructional sporting activities, the costs paid to send kids to these camps would generally qualify for the child-care deduction.